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GRE

 Must have Books

  1. Barrons GRE 22nd edition
  2. Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions
  3.  Official GRE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Questions
  4. Cracking the GRE Premium Edition(The Princeton Review)
  5. GRE Prep Plus 2019 (Kaplan)
  6. GRE Complete 2019(Kaplan)


Complete reference

What it is: The GRE Set of 8 Strategy Guides, 4th Edition, is published by Manhattan Prep, a leader among companies that help students get ready for tests. It is a good idea to start your GRE preparation with this guide that includes six math books and two verbal books. Each of the eight books is dedicated to a topical area of the test—algebra; fractions, decimals and percents; geometry; number properties; word problems; quantitative comparisons and data interpretation; reading comprehension and essays; and text completion and sentence equivalence. At the end of each book, three sets of practice questions are arranged by the level of difficulty—easy, medium, and hard.

Advantages: For candidates with time to prepare and deep dedication to the GRE, this is one of the most comprehensive GRE guides. It is a great book to learn GRE concepts and techniques and apply them to some really good questions. Explanations of concepts and questions are clear. The verbal books give you sound techniques and good reading practice and techniques.

Disadvantages: Because of the vast amount of information in these eight guides, they are not useful for those who hope to do it all in the last minute. The six math guides teach you well but do not contain many difficult questions that prepare you for excellence. In the two verbal guides, the questions on text completions and sentence equivalence depend on hard vocabulary rather than the difficult structures that the GRE demands.

What it is: This “official guide” is really that—it is published by Educational Testing Services (ETS), the makers of the GRE. It is the only official guide available for the test and is called the authoritative guide to the GRE for a good reason. It contains detailed questions and answers and commentaries by the same people who grade the GRE. It therefore provides invaluable insight into the minds of the GRE graders and creators.

The guide has a good reputation because it can really prepare you for the actual test. It consists of four complete real tests (two in the book and two on the CD-ROM that comes with it), several genuine questions, detailed descriptions of the verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning content areas, tips for answering each type of question, and an overview of the two types of analytic writing tasks that is part of the test.

Advantages: The content explaining the writing section of the test is particularly good— the instructions are clear and detailed. You will learn the best practices that will help you secure a high score.

Disadvantages: The guide does not supplement content with strategic advice and does not contain as many practice questions and additional resources as some other guides.

The Official GRE Super Power Pack (including The Official Guide to the GRE and two books with practice questions on verbal and quant sections) may lack sophisticated tips on writing the GRE, but it offers plenty of practice, detailed examples of real answers by test candidates, and expert commentaries by test graders. The power pack, which comes with a CD-ROM, provides four practice tests.

This is perhaps the oldest ETS guide and follows the old GRE pattern (the one followed before 2011). How does it help? It helps by giving you additional practice. It has ample verbal and quant sections, but you should not make it the foundation for your preparations.

 More GRE Prep Books

If bettering your verbal score is one of your priorities, Barron’s Essential Words should be a part of your kit. Essential Words gives useful tips on learning the roots and prefixes of words as a means of deciphering word meaning. You will find a pretest that helps you identify your problem areas. The book has concise word definitions.

 

How to select the right GRE book

  1. Take a practice test on the GRE website to determine your strong points and weak points.
  2. Decide what learning style will suit you best: if you are a visual learner, choose a guide that comes with a CD.
  3. See how much time is available to you for preparation. If time is short, go for an e-guide. If you have plenty of time, go for a detailed study guide.
  4. Visit a bookstore and spend some time going through the various guides.
  5. Look for a complete mock test in your guide.
  6. Buy a second or a third guide that focuses on your area or areas of concern, particularly if your first guide was a general prep guide.
  7. After study, take the computer adaptive tests of the ETS.
  8. Some books are better for self-study, and some books are ideal as a follow-up for test-takers who have already attended live prep classes. Take an online course if you cannot attend live classes, as it offers flexibility.

As a general rule, check first if there’s a more recent edition of the book and buy that. Here’s the list of the best GRE study guides.